Citation and Self-citation Ethics Policy

Citation Policy:

1. Purpose

The Baghdad Journal of Biochemistry and Applied Biological Sciences (BJ-BABS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity through responsible and ethical citation practices. Citations should acknowledge prior scholarly work, support scientific claims, provide appropriate credit to original investigators, and enable readers to verify the evidence upon which conclusions are based. The Journal follows the ethical principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

2. Principles of Responsible Citation

Authors should cite only publications that have made a genuine intellectual contribution to the submitted work. References must be directly relevant to the research question, methodology, interpretation of findings, or scientific background. Citation should never be used to artificially increase citation metrics of individual researchers, institutions, journals, or publishers. References should be selected based solely on scientific merit and relevance (ICMJE ).

3. Accuracy and Verification of References

Authors are responsible for ensuring the completeness and accuracy of every reference included in the manuscript. Citations should accurately reflect the original source, and references should be checked carefully before submission. Whenever possible, authors should cite the original research article rather than secondary sources or review articles. References to predatory or unreliable journals should be avoided (ICMJE). 

4. Appropriate Citation Practices

The Journal encourages authors to provide balanced citations representing the current state of scientific knowledge. Authors should acknowledge important contributions from different research groups rather than selectively citing only their own publications or those of collaborators. Excessive citation of articles from a single author, institution, journal, or publisher without scientific justification is discouraged.

5. Citation Manipulation

BJ-BABS strictly prohibits citation manipulation in any form. Citation manipulation includes adding irrelevant references solely to increase citation counts, citation stacking between authors or journals, honorary or gift citations, excessive journal self-citation, excessive author self-citation, or reciprocal citation agreements intended to influence bibliometric indicators. Such practices constitute publication misconduct and may result in rejection of the manuscript or further editorial action.

6. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors shall evaluate manuscripts based exclusively on scientific quality and shall never request authors to add citations merely to increase citations to BJ-BABS, the editor's own publications, or any particular author's work. Editors may recommend additional references only when these publications substantially improve the scientific quality, completeness, or accuracy of the manuscript. Every recommended citation must have a clear academic justification (ICMJE, Elsevier).

7. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Reviewers may recommend additional references only when they are directly relevant to improving the scientific quality of the manuscript. Reviewers should not request citation of their own publications unless these references are genuinely essential for understanding or strengthening the submitted work. Any recommendation to cite personal publications must be accompanied by a clear scientific explanation (ICMJE, Elsevier).

8. Editorial Monitoring

The Editorial Office periodically monitors citation patterns within published articles to identify unusual citation behaviour, including excessive self-citation, citation stacking, or coercive citation practices. When suspicious citation patterns are identified, the Editorial Board may request revision, initiate an investigation, or take corrective actions consistent with COPE recommendations (COPE). 

 

Self-Citation Policy:

1. General Statement

BJ-BABS recognizes that self-citation is a normal and legitimate component of scientific communication when previous work is directly relevant to the current study. However, self-citation should never be used to manipulate citation metrics or to increase the visibility of individual authors or the Journal artificially. The Journal follows the ethical recommendations of COPE, ICMJE, and WAME regarding responsible self-citation practices.

2. Author Self-Citation

Authors may cite their own previously published work when it provides essential scientific background, describes methods, reports earlier stages of the same research project, or is necessary for the interpretation of current findings. Self-citations should always be scientifically justified and should represent only the minimum number required to support the manuscript (ICMJE).

3. Excessive Author Self-Citation

The Journal discourages excessive self-citation. Large clusters of references from the same author or research group without a clear scientific necessity may be considered inappropriate. During peer review and editorial assessment, authors may be asked to remove unnecessary self-citations or provide scientific justification for their inclusion. The Editorial Board evaluates each manuscript individually and does not impose rigid numerical limits, recognising that legitimate self-citation varies by research field and study design.

4. Journal Self-Citation

Articles previously published in BJ-BABS should be cited only when they are directly relevant to the submitted manuscript. Authors are never required or pressured to cite BJ-BABS articles as a condition for acceptance. Recommendations to include citations from the Journal may be made only when those references substantially improve the scientific content of the manuscript (Elsevier). 

5. Editorial and Reviewer Self-Citation

Editors and reviewers must not request citations to their own publications or to BJ-BABS for the purpose of increasing citation metrics. Any recommendation to include additional references must be based solely on scientific merit and accompanied by a transparent explanation of their relevance. Coercive citation practices are considered a serious breach of publication ethics (Elsevier, ICMJE).

6. Monitoring and Compliance

The Editorial Board regularly reviews author self-citation rates, journal self-citation patterns, reviewer recommendations, and editorial decisions to detect potential citation manipulation. Where inappropriate citation practices are identified, the Journal may request manuscript revision, reject the submission, report serious ethical concerns to the authors' institutions where appropriate, or follow COPE procedures for handling publication misconduct (Elsevier).